Media Convergence Handbook, Vol.1 (Journalism, Broadcasting, and Social Media Aspects of Convergence) and Vol. 2 (Firms and User-Perspective), edited book published by Springer-Verlag, 2015. A unique cross-disciplinary viewpoint on media convergence from a business, media studies, technical, and user-experience viewpoint. Lecture slides, and additional information available on the book website.

“Media Convergence Handbook”

Vol 1. (Journalism, Broadcasting, and Social Media Aspects of Convergence) and Vol. 2 (Firms and User-Perspective)

Media Convergence happens on many levels and each of them implicates specific challenges and priorities. Within the scope of this book, we focus on end-to-end convergence on various levels: managerial, information systems, and end-consumers level. The book will especially shed light into the complexity of the topic and act as a reference book and educational resource in this field. The implementations of convergence strategies can only succeed when they take into account the expectations and aspirations of every actor with a stake in the enterprise, including content producers. Managers unanimously agree on the importance of human resources management within the implementation process. This consideration implies that convergence is more than an economic opportunity and needs to be understood as well as a focus of editorial strategy. Convergence is often discussed at a rhetorical and political level. But how does convergence actually happen, and does convergence lead to divergence? Media industry understands convergence in ways that differ from the perceptions of consumers, who are clearly diverging in the ways they consume media. Media managers are faced with the need to satisfy users’ expectations and also undertake convergence as an industrial strategy to achieve economies of scope & scale. Another challenge lies in the development of information systems in media industries that support convergence. Do these also lead to divergence? Does blurring the boundaries between the various distribution platforms let media diverge from the consumer’s point of view? This book will encourage an active discussion around this theme, taking multiple viewpoints into account: a content creator perspective (journalistic or artistic), an information system perspective, the consumer’s expectations, management and technological challenges, as well as market dynamics. In conclusion, can all the challenges of convergence be solved, or does convergence lead to further divergence.

We strongly welcome other topic suggestions dealing with convergence on a managerial,information system, and consumer level beyond the topics suggested above.

Schedule & Deadlines

1st December 2012
Notification for intending to contribute with a book chapter to help us in the review process planning of the book (author team, preliminary title, and very brief abstract of max. 250 words)

31st January 2013We are still accepting submissions, please inform us when your chapter is ready ASAP
1st manuscript version (also authors who did not notify us to intend to contribute are invited to submit)

1st March 2013End of April 2013
Review comments for 1st manuscript version and notification of acceptance

8th September 2013:
submission of the 2nd version of the book chapters

30th September 2013:
feedback from the editors if all criteria from above have been met (e.g. page count, correct template, review comments addressed, English language appropriate, etc.)

15th October 2013:
the total manuscripts will be given to Springer-Verlag – thereafter we can’t accept any updates anymore (strict deadline!)

Manuscript Preparation (please read carefully)

Upload the following files as one.zip file to the submission system:

authors short bios (collected in one word file)

picture of each author

original manuscript in word, tex, or any other format

pdf format of the manuscript

Make sure that the following conditions are met for the final chapter:

the submissions need proper English language editing. Please ensure that your final submission is proof read and written in proper English language

Many submissions were not following the springer template

Many papers were lacking an appropriate structure. Each submission has to be structured according the following ‘template’:

Introduction and problem discussion

Literature state of the art/Literature Review

Methodology & Approach

… other content of the paper …

Viewpoint on Convergence (min. 1/2 page, or add to the Conclusions section)

Conclusions

please follow the manuscript formatting guidelines below, and only submit the original version (in Microsoft word) with the submission system

each final manuscript should be 15-20 pages long (depending on the number of submissions longer manuscripts will also be accepted)

Guidelines to Submit to the Open Access Online Journal

If you opted as rejected or conditionally accepted book chapter to submit to our open access online journal, please follow the following steps carefully. The homepage of the online journal can be found on: